Other side of the story: Members of a support group for people injured by cervical cancer vaccines face reporters Friday in Tokyo after they filed a request for the government to end subsidies for the injections. | KYODO

Victims hit cervical cancer vaccines

Paralyzed teens, parents demand subsidized shots be eradicated

Teenagers injured or disabled by cervical cancer vaccines are stepping up efforts to permanently end the government’s subsidy program for injections of Cervarix and Gardasil.

On Friday, eight teens, accompanied by their parents, called out health minister Norihisa Tamura over the issue. The schoolgirls, aged from 14 to 18 — including four in wheelchairs — and their parents are members of the Nationwide Liaison Association of Cervical Cancer Vaccine Victims and Parents.

Tamura was handed five petitions in a meeting with the group at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, association chief Mika Matsufuji said afterward. The request to abolish the vaccination program topped the list.

The other petitions included one asking for stronger government efforts to identify the cause of the side effects and to find therapeutic remedies. The side effects range from convulsions and seizures to severe headaches and even partial paralysis.

In April, the Diet revised the Preventive Vaccination Law so that girls aged 14 to 18 could get the cervical vaccine shots for free.

But an advisory panel to the health ministry later urged that the government stop recommending vaccinations for cervical cancer after concluding the reported symptoms were likely being caused by the vaccines.

The ministry reportedly complied on June 15 by telling local governments to stop recommending that girls 12 to 16 get vaccinated with Cervarix or Gardasil in light of reports about chronically adverse reactions. The local governments, acting on behalf of the central government, had been telling teens to get the shots.

At Friday’s meeting with Tamura, the schoolgirls, parents and the association asked the government to revise the vaccination law again to officially remove cervical cancer vaccines from the list of those subsidized by the central government.

“There is not a single moment when I am not suffering pain, and I want the government to find a remedy,” said a 17-year-old high school senior from Yokohama.

“I do not want the government to resume recommending this vaccine.”

The girl said she started getting severe pains throughout her body, including her head, after receiving her third Cervarix injection in April 2011. The process requires three injections in six months.

A 16-year-old in a wheelchair whose hands and legs were convulsing during the meeting with Tamura and at the news conference, said she can’t possibly be alone.

“There must be numerous girls who are suffering symptoms similar to mine without knowing their conditions stem from the vaccines.

“I took this action (going to the press) because I want those girls to become aware of the link” between the vaccines and their disorders, she said.

Toshie Ikeda, a member of the Hino Municipal Assembly who has been secretary-general of the association and attended Friday’s meeting with Tamura, quoted him as saying: “I am aware of the necessity to create a team to study this problem and gather information on the actual state of damage that has been inflicted nationwide.”

Matsufuji, whose daughter is among the four in wheelchairs, quoted the minister as telling the petitioners that the decision will be made after the government completes its investigation.

According to Dr. Sotaro Sato, who has examined many cervical vaccine victims, the convulsions, inability to walk, and involuntary hand and toe movements are being caused by encephalomyelitis, or the inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.

“Cervical cancer vaccines, which are chemically bound to special types of adjuvants, often trigger encephalomyelitis,” he said.

“Since the vaccines cause autoantibodies against the brain’s neuronal fibers to be produced in many cases, they have triggered demyelinating disorders,” he said, adding they have also induced many cases of cerebral vasculitis.

Cerebral vasculitis causes the body’s immune system to attack blood vessels in the brain, often leading to hemorrhaging, said Sato, who runs a hospital in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture.

The marketing of Cervarix, made by GlaxoSmithKlein PLC of Britain, was approved in 2009. This was followed by Gardasil, made by Merck Sharp & Dohme (better known as Merck & Co. in the U.S.), in 2011.

The ministry says that it has received a total of 1,968 reports of adverse reactions and that 3.28 million girls had been vaccinated as of March 31. The association says that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Ikeda said doctors often reject pleas from their patients’ parents to file reports about adverse reactions, which are needed to obtain compensation from the government.

This is either because they are afraid of being held responsible for the shots or because they are ignorant the vaccines can produce side effects, he said.

Baby gets liver cells

The National Center for Child Health and Development in Tokyo has successfully transplanted liver cells into a baby for the first time in Japan.

“We have safely conducted an operation that could develop into regenerative medicine using embryo-stem or induced pluripotent stem cells,” NCCHD hospital chief Akira Matsui said Friday.

In the globally rare case, the center used surplus liver cells left frozen after 14 living liver transplants it conducted in and after May 2011. The donors consented to keeping the liver cells frozen.

The baby boy, whose liver was malfunctioning, underwent the transplant on Aug. 10, when he was 11 days old, and on Aug. 13, receiving cells that matched his blood type, the center said. Afterward, his liver began functioning properly.

The boy could be discharged from the hospital in a month and a half, the center said, adding it will keep track of his condition.

Try looking at the VAERS, and you’ll see that Gardasil has far more reports of adverse effects, including ones like reported in Japan, than any other vaccine. That the mainstream media doesn’t cover it is, obviously, meaningless – but it gives false impression that these disastrous adverse effects aren’t happening.

Dorit Reiss

VAERS is not a reliable place to find out about what vaccines actually cause – it is a passive reporting system, and without medical verification, reports are not proof of a connection (remember the doctor that reported that the influenza vaccine turned him into the invisible hulk). VAERS itself explains: ”
VAERS data contains coincidental events and those truly caused by vaccines.” http://vaers.hhs.gov/data/index. There is no credible evidence of causal connection between the HPV vaccines and any adverse events except local reactions and fainting on the day of.

anonomyssy

I have heard over and over from parents that they have gone back To their doctor with very real adverse reactions, only to be blown off…my former family doc, who would NOT administer Guardasil (actually wrote a letter to patients urging us not to allow our daughters to be Merck’s guinea pigs), told me years ago, before the autism debate when I questioned vaccines (had an acquaintance with a permanently brain damaged child thanks to the DPT), that given the adverse reactions he has personally seen in his small practice, if they were any indication of what went on nationwide, adverse reactions had to be grossly under-reported. VAERS gives parents a place to report when physicians won’t listen.

Lori Harvey

They occur here in the U.S. as well. Over 30,000 people have been injured by this vaccine. It’s being buried by big pharma so that they can continue their lies that this vaccine is safe. VAERS shows that this vaccines is dangerous.
Women who originally got this vaccine when it first came out are now having positive pap smears. This vaccine has Polysorbate-80 in it which has been known to cause infertility in rats.
If this was anything but a vaccine, it would have been pulled off the market.

Cypriot Physician

Not every case gets duly reported as one might think.

For example, if you look back five years or so, French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis ended up withdrawing their anti-obesity drug, Accomplia, due to concerns about side-effects. However, if you look it up, it is almost impossible to find out what happened in Japan where patients who were provided the drug by their physicians actually ended up dying; the physicians were paid by Sanofi-Aventis Japan and they were encouraged to provide the technically “experimental” drug to patients who were deemed suffering from “metabolic syndrome”. The nominal payouts to the surviving families from Sanofi-Aventis, the physicians and hospitals also helped guarantee none of this ended up in the press. If you look up “Accomplia / アコンプリア ” aka “Rimonabant”, even the listed side-effects are wholly incomplete.

Dorit Reiss

Because there is no evidence – in Japan or here – that these events were actually caused by the vaccine. The claims exist in the U.S. too – and in neither place is there credible medical evidence of a causal connection. I’m sorry for those girls; but the fact that they believe their problems were caused by the vaccine is not enough.

anonomyssy

There is plenty of evidence if you take the time to look at it!

Starviking

Too true. These maladies occur naturally. The complainants seem to deny that, the fact that it has been associated with the vaccine in their minds is proof enough for them. Sadly, some who should know better are helping them maintain their delusion. Shades of (ex) Doctor Wakefield perhaps?

Twylaa

What kinds of evidence did they look for? These scientists found evidence:

If their research is robust enough it will be taken up by most national regulators.

Minda

Vaccine manufacturers provide their own “Proof” and they are to be trusted? Those who are against the vaccines provide their “proof” and are not to be trusted? I think there is a problem with the logic of this. Let us find someone who is not bias and then let’s talk. It’s a he said she said and more people need to look deep for themselves and rely not on those whose money is at stake! Personal choice should remain intact so that everyone is free to choose what is best for themselves.

Starviking

Well, I look at the scientific papers, and the statements of qualified individuals. I check their statements. I also check the statements of the anti-vax crowd. The anti-vax crowd usually make statements which are scientifically unsound, and also twist the facts.

Personal choice is a difficult one, as often vaccination is a matter of not only protecting the individual, but also society.

If you check out such science blogs as Respectful Insolence and Bad Astronomy, you can get the scientific side of things.

anonomyssy

You aren’t paying attention, they are world wide…there were physicians on The Today Show speaking about their AMERICAN daughter who was badly damaged. It’s a minimally tested, and potentially dangerous shot…

Starviking

And these physicians were?

anonomyssy

youtube it genius, you know how to use the internet, right? It’s better you do your own research anyway, then you can’t sit there and tell me I’m wrong when the evidence is everywhere. The Today show starts at 0:24, the girls whose parents are both doctors starts around 0:59 seconds.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJsEEXDGAsk

Starviking

Dr Scott Ratner, cardiologist.

I have read the quotes. I note that apart from that appearance four years ago Dr Ratner has been absent from the debate. Maybe he’s had second thoughts?

anonomyssy

Dr. Scott Ratner.

Starviking

They have been reported in the UK, but not in numbers great than would be expected in the absence of vaccination.

There have been reports of adverse reactions to everything, including all those healthy foods that grow on earth. Are there any vaccines that are universally safe? Are the vaccines required for attending a public school in Japan universally safe? More than 99.94% safety rate that this vaccine officially has? Yes, perhaps the actual rate is lower than that. But I see nothing but an assertion that doctors often (whatever that means — 70%?) lie to protect their own rear ends. Proof? Or we’d just like to believe it because a cause celebre is more interesting than no cause celebre? I’d like to know, with the supposedly rigorous testing _in Japan_ (regardless of what testing has been done elsewhere) before any drug or medical procedure is approved, how this didn’t show up before 3,280,000 girls were vaccinated and if it did, if it is within the normal range of unfortunate outcomes connected to any medical action taken, even the ingesting of aspirin or any of its substitutes. The demand that action should be taken by independent investigators to find out the exact causes of these reactions and find therapies to ameliorate them without going through 20 years of discussing who should be on the panel to do the investigation goes without saying. I totally agree with that part of the demand. By the way, if the govt said that children ought to eat 10 bananas a day to the exclusion of lots of other foods they would then be too full to eat, and gave the bananas away for free, would Japanese parents start their children on such a diet without consulting a pediatrician first? If so, the govt ought to see how many times it can sell the Rainbow Bridge to Japanese parents as a way to reduce the burgeoning public debt.

Kenji Sugahara

Let me guess. Jenny McCarthy is going to jump all over this. This is as absurd as the claims that vaccines cause autism. If you want to take one look at what happens when vaccines are are avoided- take a look at Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Here’s what the CDC says about the vaccine- it breaks down adverse reactions.

So the technical comparison is not between Third World Countries and wealthy nations, but between wealthy nations. The results? Nothing than would be expected in the absence of the vaccine.

Ron NJ

“Ikeda said doctors often reject pleas from their patients’ parents to
file reports about adverse reactions, which are needed to obtain
compensation from the government.”
There’s the real story buried under the rest of the nonsense in this article.
At any rate, 1968 out of 3.28 million is 0.06% – we must not only consider whether this incidence rate is statistically significant enough to warrant (a) conclusion that the disparate afflictions are in fact caused by the vaccine but also (b) whether the rate is high enough to outweigh the benefits of the vaccine. It seems that nobody interviewed here bothered to do any of that.

Starviking

But is Ikeda just saying that? It is anecdotal, not evidence. Perhaps a scoop opportunity for the Japan Times.

Good point on the statistics and benefits!

Nida

I’ve been reading D’Adamo’s book on blood type diet and he seems to have the answer for this.

He says sometimes blood Type B children (and presumably teens too) sometimes “have severe neurological reactions to vaccinations…be aware of ….complications, be it an alteration in your child’s walking or crawling (baby) gait, or a personality change of some kind..”

Starviking

Oh, D’Adamo, the naturopathic physician.

From Wikipedia:

“Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine based on a belief in vitalism, which posits that a special energy called vital energy or vital force guides bodily processes such as metabolism, reproduction, growth, and adaptation.[1] Naturopathy favors a holistic approach with non-invasive treatment and generally avoids the use of surgery and drugs.[2] Among naturopaths, complete rejection of biomedicine and modern science is common.”

Dorit Reiss

Sincere as these girls’ belief is that they were injured by the HPV vaccines, there is no credible medical evidence that the vaccine causes any adverse events besides local reactions and fainting on the day of. HPV related cervical cancers kill over 2500 young women a year in Japan, and leaves others suffering and potentially disabled. Refusing to provide it free because these suffering young women blame the vaccines – again, with no scientific or medical evidence, based just on a temporal connection – would be a tragedy and unfair to these victims of HPV. I sincerely hope the Japanese government does not cave to this emotional pressure and continues following the evidence.

anonomyssy

If what critics of the vaccine say is true, you are more likely to die from the shot, than HPV, which BTW is totally avoidable…AND the shot only covers 4 strains…look at the side effects…outbreaks of warts is one…my daughter’s friend suddenly broke out with warts all over her body…I had been reading about Guardasil, and asked “did you just have the HPV shot?”…yes, yes she did, a week or so before…now even though the package insert says that’s a side effect, I’m sure you’ll say that’s not why she broke out, and her dad did NOT report that adverse reaction to the family doctor.

Dorit Reiss

Sincere as these girls’ belief is that they were injured by the HPV vaccines, there is no credible medical or scientific evidence to support the claim that the vaccine causes any adverse events besides local reaction or fainting on the day of. On the other hand, there is powerful evidence that HPV related cervical cancers kill over 2500 women a year in Japan and leave many more suffering and potentially infertile. It would be a tragedy if the Japanese government cave to this emotional pressure and went against the evidence, depriving women of free access to this vaccine, which can save lives and prevent suffering.

Twylaa

According to the article, this doctor, who actually examined the patients, found evidence.

“According to Dr. Sotaro Sato, who has examined many cervical vaccine victims, the convulsions, inability to walk, and involuntary hand and toe movements are being caused by encephalomyelitis, or the inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.

“’Cervical cancer vaccines, which are chemically bound to special types of adjuvants, often trigger encephalomyelitis,’ he said.

“’Since the vaccines cause autoantibodies against the brain’s neuronal fibers to be produced in many cases, they have triggered demyelinating disorders,’ he said, adding they have also induced many cases of cerebral vasculitis.

“Cerebral vasculitis causes the body’s immune system to attack blood vessels in the brain, often leading to hemorrhaging, said Sato, who runs a hospital in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture.”

Starviking

And what is Dr. Sato’s area of expertise? I’m doubtful that someone who runs his own hosptial in a rural area of Tohoku is an expert on these matters. A far more likely scenario is that he was the only one to respond to the parents’ concerns.

As for the evidence, Dr Sato seems to be repeating anti-vaccine statements. I doubt he has examined the brains of the patients for adjuvants, as that would require surgery.

Lisa Stanley

its not just japan, there are 100s in the uk alone and my daughter is one of them, this injection should be banner across the globe !

Twylaa

In this article, a key HPV researcher spoke out expressing doubts about
whether the possible benefits of this vaccine outweigh the risks.

And what does Dr Harper conclude in her scientific paper on the matter, “Current prophylactic HPV vaccines and gynecologic
premalignancies”.

“Under the best circumstances in which HPV vaccination
has lifetime efficacy and screening is sparse, a vaccination
program has the potential to save hundreds of thousands
of women’s lives. When screening is routinely available,
vaccination may decrease the number of diagnostic workups
and allow the interval between screens to safely
increase. Mores, values, ethics, cost-effectiveness, and
tolerance for rare but real risks of serious adverse events
must be balanced by each potential vaccine recipient in
light of the public health guidelines.”

A bit more nuanced than the HuffPo

kayumochi

Am living in the US now and was told by a woman working in a clinic that my daughter was required by state law to get this vaccine. State law requires no such thing and I refused. People are assumed to be ignorant and passive by the Medical Industrial Complex.